Monday, April 25, 2011

The Thanos Imperative HC

Wow, DnA know how to rock the world of Marvel cosmic. This epic is the swan song for the cancelled Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova. I love that DnA end the series pretty dramatically for the stars of those two books. I don't believe the permanence of their status for a moment, but it's a great idea to take these guys off the table for a bit. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

With such a huge cast, and with Thanos justifiably taking up so many panels, a lot of the cosmic cast gets relegated to the background. Poor Jack Flagg and the Inhumans barely appear. Major Victory is a walking plot dump. But Rocket Raccoon, Drax, and Mantis all make out pretty nicely, even with fierce competition for page.

I never would have guessed that my childhood fave Quasar would be so important or powerful, but I'm not complaining. That big-budget, slo-mo shot where the Annihilators form up? Simply awesome. I love seeing Quaze and Ronan the Accuser in such fine company.

The story is truly epic, and I think it works best when the stakes are highest. The enormous battle at the Fault rift is well done, with Galactus and other cosmic entities trying to hold back the seeping life of the overgrown universe. I love the sequences back in the other universe too, with Star-Lord and Thanos teaming up with the robotic resistance there. I'm not sure the Revengers totally work as bad guys, I never bought into them as being too scary. While I love the idea of that character leading the forces of life, he isn't disfigured or frightening enough considering he's supposed to be tied to Lovecraftian elder gods.

The art in the prologue is the strongest. Brad Walker owns the Guardians, and his work is stellar. Miguel Sepulveda does a decent job with the rest of the material, but Walker is a hard act to follow.